The Muppets (comic strip)
.]] The 'Jim Henson's Muppets' comic strip first premiered in over 500 daily newspapers on September 21, 1981, just months after ''The Muppet Show ended its five year run. The strip was created by brothers Guy and Brad Gilchrist, who drew and wrote the strips, and distributed through King Features Syndicate. The Jim Henson's Muppets comic strip was printed daily from 1981 to 1986 in over 660 newspapers worldwide. Special strips were also created in color, exclusively for issues of Muppet Magazine during its run. The strip is notable as being the first comic strip in history to be syndicated in multiple countries starting on the very first day of publication. Guy Gilchrist described working on a world-wide comic stating: "We had to work twice as far in advance as anyone else in our business at that time, because our strips had to be shipped via airmail and messenger (prior to the internet, of course) all around the world to be translated into every language of the 80 countries that read us each day. We had to be extremely aware of the global marketplace. We couldn't, for instance, write any 'puns' or English language wordplay. It couldn't be translated, you see."http://www.gilchriststudios.com/d2s.html Development The strip changed focus considerably, after the first few months. The early strips treated the comic as an extension of the show, with "on-stage" and "backstage" scenes, all taking place in the Muppet Theater. The characters talk directly to the reader, as they would to the audience of the show -- the Rowlf the Dog strips on October 24th and November 7th, 1981, feel like gags that could have been on television with no change at all. There's a sequence from Nov 16th to Nov 26th about Gonzo discovering a team of dancing worms, which includes a scene between Kermit and Miss Piggy before her big musical number, then a strip that shows the number, and ending with a Kermit/Piggy scene after the number. The entire 10-strip sequence mimics the story structure of a Muppet Show episode. The early strips also featured familiar sketches from the show, including Veterinarian's Hospital, Pigs in Space and Bear on Patrol. The art changed quite a bit as well. The strip originally had a more naturalistic style that was patterned directly off the puppets, and on the work of Michael Frith. As time went on, though, Guy became more confident drawing the characters and the strip became more stylized and simplified, capturing the essence of the characters in this new medium. Guy's version of Kermit can be recognized by small horizontal lines around his smile, which persisted in Guy's licensing work for Muppet Babies. As the Gilchrists grew more confident, the concept of the strip moved away from the Muppet Theater and the vaudeville show, and started to focus on the Muppets' everyday lives. By February 10th and 11th, 1982, the Muppets are seen out on a hill in the middle of the night, looking up at the stars. By March 1982, the majority of strips take place in restaurants, in the park and in the characters' homes. Rowlf still appears as Dr. Bob, but he's Kermit's personal therapist, not participating in a sketch on stage. Over time, the theater-bound strips become the exception. Notes In 1983, Enesco released a line of coffee mugs featuring artwork from the comic strip. In 1984, President Ronald Reagan and First Lady Nancy Reagan invited Guy to be guest of honor at the "Easter at The White House" celebration. Later that week, Guy’s Muppets artwork was permanently enshrined in the Smithsonian Institute. Guy’s Muppet artwork was chosen to be part of the touring Art of the Muppets exhibit and has appeared in museums worldwide. Gonzo recommends the book Moving Right Along by Guy and Brad Gilchrist at the end of the 1990 special The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson. Characters featured in the Muppets comic strip included: Kermit, Miss Piggy, Fozzie, Gonzo, Scooter, Rowlf, Statler and Waldorf, Robin, Beauregard, Sam the Eagle, Floyd, Zoot, Janice, Animal, Rizzo, Link Hogthrob, Dr. Julius Strangepork, The Swedish Chef, Camilla, Pops, Beaker, J.P. Grosse, Foo-Foo, and Thog. Background characters included Whatnots, Monsters, Chickens, Rats, Frogs and other creatures. 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File:Gilchrist_1983-11-24_strip.jpg|November 24, 1983 File:1984-04-02_gilchrist_2.jpg|April 2, 1984 File:1984-04-03_comic_strip.jpg|April 3, 1984 gilchrist 1984-04-06.jpg|April 6, 1984 File:1984-04-13_gilchrist.jpg|April 13, 1984 File:1984-04-18_comic_strip.jpg|April 18, 1984 File:Gilchrist_1984-04-30.jpg|April 30, 1984 gilchrist comic strip march 7 1985.jpg|March 7, 1985 gilchrist comic strip march 12 1985.jpg|March 12, 1985 gilchrist 1985-04-17.jpg|April 17, 1985 1985-05-20.jpg|May 20, 1985 1985-05-22.jpg|May 22, 1985 gilchrist strip 1985 july 27.jpg|July 27, 1985 1985-12-31.jpg|December 31, 1985 gilchrist 1986-04-01.jpg|April 1, 1986 muppets-86-04-30.jpg|April 30, 1986 muppets-86-05-01.jpg|May 1, 1986 muppets-86-05-02.jpg|May 2, 1986 muppets-86-05-03b.jpg|May 3, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-05.jpg|May 5, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-06.jpg|May 6, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-07.jpg|May 7, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-08.jpg|May 8, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-09.jpg|May 9, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-11.jpg|May 11, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-12.jpg|May 12, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-13.jpg|May 13, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-14.jpg|May 14, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-15.jpg|May 15, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-16.jpg|May 16, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-18.jpg|May 18, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-19.jpg|May 19, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-20.jpg|May 20, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-21.jpg|May 21, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-22.jpg|May 22, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-23.jpg|May 23, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-25.jpg|May 25, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-28.jpg|May 28, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-29.jpg|May 29, 1986 Muppets strip 1986-05-30.jpg|May 30, 1986 1986-06-01.jpg|June 1, 1986 Gilchrist-disneyland.gif|unknown gonzo shower comic.JPG|unknown comics0002.jpg|unknown Pigs In Space comic.JPG|unknown Sunday strips Comic April 25.jpg|April 25, 1982 Comic May 23.jpg|May 23, 1982 Comic Jul 25.jpg|July 25, 1982 Comic Oct 24.jpg|October 24, 1982 Comic Dec 19.jpg|December 19, 1982 Comic Mar 6.jpg|March 6, 1983 May 8 1983.jpg|May 8, 1983 Comic May 29.jpg|May 29, 1983 Comic jun 12.jpg|June 12, 1983 Comic Jun 19.jpg|June 19, 1983 Comic Jun 26.jpg|June 26, 1983 Jul 22 1984.jpg|July 22, 1984 gilchrist 1985-10-28.jpg|October 28, 1984 Muppets_85-01-06.jpg|January 6, 1985 April 14 1985.jpg|April 14, 1985 Jun 30 1985.jpg|June 30, 1985 Oct 27 1985.jpg|October 27, 1985 gilchrist 1985-11-17 comic strip.jpg|November 17, 1985 gilchrist 1985-12-1 comic strip.jpg|December 1, 1985 muppets 86-01-05.jpg|January 5, 1986 muppets-86-01-12.jpg|January 12, 1986 muppets-86-01-19.jpg|January 19, 1986 muppets-86-01-26.jpg|January 26, 1986 muppets-86-02-02.jpg|February 2, 1986 muppets-86-02-09.jpg|February 9, 1986 muppets-86-02-16.jpg|February 16, 1986 muppets-86-02-23.jpg|February 23, 1986 muppets-86-03-02.jpg|March 2, 1986 muppets-86-03-09.jpg|March 9, 1986 muppets-86-03-30.jpg|March 30, 1986 muppets-86-04-06.jpg|April 6, 1986 muppets-86-04-13.jpg|April 13, 1986 muppets-86-04-20.jpg|April 20, 1986 muppets-86-04-27.jpg|April 27, 1986 The Muppets comic computer store.jpg|unknown Book collections Six books were released by Tom Doherty Associates collecting the later strips. Image:Stripcollection.shortgreen.jpg| 1984 ISBN 0812573633 Image:Stripcollection.lightfeet.jpg| 1984 ISBN 081257365X Image:Stripcollection.movinalong.jpg| 1984 ISBN 0671506463 Image:Stripcollection.chickenpeople.jpg| 1985 ISBN 0812573692 Image:Stripcollection.froggymountain.jpg| 1986 ISBN 0812573803 Image:Stripcollection.onthetown.jpg| 1986 ISBN 0812573714 Translations Image:Rampenlicht.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1986 Translation by Take Janssen ISBN 3-404-10812-4 Image:misspiggyaufstimmenfang.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1986 Translation by Take Janssen ISBN 3-404-10839-6 Image:kleingrunundliebenswert.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1987 Translation by Heiner H. Boeck ISBN 3-404-10863-9 Image:Großstadtmelodie.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1987 Translation by Uwe Luserke ISBN 3-404-10876-0 Image:kermitlasstdiepuppentanzen.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1987 Translation by Heiner H. Boeck ISBN 3-404-10914-7 Image:misspiggymachttheater.jpg| German, Bastei-Lübbe Verlag, 1987 Translation by Heiner H. Boeck ISBN 3-404-10939-2 Sources External links *Tough Pigs: The Early Days of the Muppets Comic Strip __NOWYSIWYG__ Category:Comics